Ohrid Airport has registered seat capacity growth of over 150% this year with the launch of new services by Wizz Air and Eurowings, helped by charter flights from the Netherlands and Poland. St Paul the Apostle Airport welcomed 70.597 travellers through its doors during the January - May period, representing an impressive increase of 81.8%. It added an extra 31.765 travellers on the same period last year. It is estimated to handle over 300.000 passengers in 2019. So far, demand has been highly seasonal with the airport welcoming around 36.000 travellers in July and August last year but only 5.000 passengers during most of the winter months. This trend is expected to ease this year with Wizz Air to maintain all of its routes during the 2019/2020 winter seasons.
Overall, Ohrid Airport will see the largest growth in traffic in 2019 in its 65-year history. "Back in 2014, for the most part of the year we handled only one plane daily. This year, in July and August, there will be days when we process some twenty flights per day. For comparison, just a few years ago we had three to four airlines serving St Paul the Apostle Airport, while this summer season there are thirteen foreign carriers connecting Ohrid with twenty destinations in twelve countries. This growth will continue in the future", the head of the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency, Tomislav Tuntev, said.
Despite much of the demand for flights being driven by tourism, operator TAV Macedonia is looking to attract more passengers from neighbouring Albania to use its services at Ohrid Airport. The company's management met with tour operators and agencies in Elbasan in central Albania recently and has urged for the introduction of a shuttle bus service between the city and St Paul the Apostle Airport. The two are some sixty kilometres apart. The airport itself is actually closer to Tirana than Skopje. This summer, Ohrid is being served by Wizz Air, Edelweiss, Eurowings, Arkia Israel Airlines, Chair Airlines, Pegasus, Onur Air, Corendon Airlines, Brussels Airlines, TUIFly, Nordica, Enter Air, LOT and Helvetic.
So this year they will almost double the passenger numbers. Nice!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Ohrid. That really is major growth.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that Tirana is closer, the road is bad that it takes longer to get there then to Skopje
ReplyDeleteThe road from OHD to Elbasan is terrible and you have to go through Elbasan to get to Tirana.
DeleteWhat is so terrible on that road? I find it quite nice.
DeleteWhat is OHD's capacity?
ReplyDelete400000
DeleteSo if they keep growing the way they are now, soon they will need a new terminal, or expand the current one.
DeleteAre there any plans to expand OHD terminal?
DeleteIf they continue grow they will have to do something .... even now there are big lines which extend way beyond the doors, even on the airpron, for passport control when two planes land 15-30 minutes of each other ... and also there is only one security check point (with one scanner) to enter the gate area ...
DeleteThe subsidized Wizz flights are having a positive impact.
ReplyDeleteAlso the year round Edelweiss flights are a great addition.
ReplyDeleteSchedule is much better in winter because flights depart ZRH at 06:55 and depart OHD at 09:45h. The only issue is it's 1 weekly in winter.
DeleteWith Edelweiss now in Ohrid, perhaps Swiss could consider upgrading Skopje to mainline operations.
Delete+1 last anon
DeleteGreat developments for OHD. They could try to attract Croatia Airlines with some seasonal flights from Zagreb. A 2-3 weekly Dash 8 shouldn't be a problem to fill from May-Sep .
ReplyDeleteWhy not and Air Serbia?
Delete+1 Belgrade could work especially if they time it to connect to JFK.
DeleteI really hope that AirSerbia will return to OHD.
DeleteWould be nice if they attracted Adria back too. I think 2 weekly with their Saabs would work perfectly.
DeleteThis is a serious seasonal opportunity for OU and JU (but not for flights after midnight :D)
Deletethe dash 8 and Atr are the optimal aircrafts for them
DeleteOhrid really is Macedonia's biggest selling point.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a spectacular place. I just hope it's natural beauty is preserved.
DeleteAgree. It really is a special place there.
DeleteTime to link Ohrid Airport to the town. There is no public transport. It would come in handy for the tourists.
ReplyDeleteYes before bus to Albania please introduce bus to downtown.
DeleteBoth, people need
DeleteSounds promising indeed!
ReplyDeleteGo Ohrid! Well done!
ReplyDelete+150% capacity. wow that's huge.
ReplyDeleteOHD is booming and well deserved.
DeleteWell done to Ohrid. I'm surprised that Wizz Air is not introducing direct flights to Athens taking into account the large Albanian diaspora in Greece. Ohrid could definitely attract more passengers from south east Albania.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIt won’t work. Aegean airlines go daily to Tirana also people drive to Albania from Greece.
DeleteOverall, well done to them for the ongoing expansion.
ReplyDeleteFinally the focus is shifting to OHD. Hopefully we get to see more year-round routes
ReplyDeleteOHD should try to attract more flights from Scandinavia for tourists.
DeleteScandinavian and Eastern European markets too. These is an ideal destination for CIS countries.
DeleteI'm surprised that OHD is still 'undiscovered' by the Russians
DeleteI agree it is odd that Russians have still not discovered Ohrid in big numbers. Especially since they don't need a visa for Macedonia.
DeletePobeda would be perfect for OHD.
DeleteOhrid is the new success story
ReplyDeleteJerusalem of the Balkans deserves much more.
ReplyDeleteStill, very good results and bright future.
OHD needs flights to BVA and MAD.
Spaniards now are heading towards the Balkans..
Jerusalem of the Balkans, LOL
DeleteHave you been to Jerusalem at all?
Have you been in Ohrid?
DeleteGreat news coming from Macedonia this year with new routes from Ohrid and Skopje. It's impressive for a relatively small market but it's definitely growing. Good work.
ReplyDeleteHow many year round routes from OHD?
ReplyDelete8 - Zurich, Dortmund, London, Memmigen, Basel, Malmo, Milan and Vienna.
DeleteVery good
DeleteRyanair, EasyJet, Norwegian we are waiting for you from OHD.
ReplyDeleteWith Wizz Air flying from an increasing number of destinations from OHD, I highly doubt it.
DeleteNorwegian should start flights to Norway and Denmark.
DeleteSAS would be nice too.
DeleteIt won't be a problem for Norwegian to start CPH and OSL or TRF. Ryanair could go for BVA, SKG or SOF (maybe), then Barcelona Girona etc.
DeleteYou forgot Air Serbia :-) Once weekly from Basel starting next Saturday.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Ohrid!
The Air Serbia flights to Basel are some charters no? They flew last year as well.
DeleteThey are charters organized by some Struga tour operators
DeleteAnd Arkia from Tel Aviv too. 3x weekly
ReplyDeleteWhen do those start? There are no Arkia flights to Ohrid in the next seven days.
DeleteYes there are..
DeleteCheck Wednesday for instance. Flights have started in mid of June.
Aren't they just charters?
Deleteno, these flights do cater mostly to package deals but they sell spare tickets on their website
DeleteLast year the government said they would focus on Ohrid. Guess they kept their promise.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWow well done Ohrid!
ReplyDeleteIf you make it to Ohrid, make sure you check out Menus.mk to find where to eat and drink.
ReplyDeletehttps://menus.mk/location/ohrid/